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PUC considers citywide solar rebate and $50 million loan pool to boost rooftop installations
Summary
The Public Utilities Commission reviewed a proposal for upfront solar rebates and a $50 million loan program to expand rooftop solar, with staff to return in January with ordinance language and program details; commissioners raised questions about funding and implementation timing.
Commissioner Chris Hochschild introduced a package of incentives intended to accelerate rooftop solar in San Francisco, saying the city could aim for “in the neighborhood of 50 megawatts of solar power, 10,000 solar roofs” if the plan proceeds. The proposal pairs an up-front cash incentive with a municipal loan program and a permitting and outreach push from city departments.
Under the proposal discussed at the meeting, homeowners who install rooftop photovoltaic systems would qualify for an upfront rebate of $3,000. Rebates would rise to $4,000 when installations are done by companies with offices in San Francisco and $5,000 for systems located in designated environmental-justice districts, where officials said they want to offset historic pollution burdens. The package also envisions repurposing general-obligation bond authority to create a $50 million loan pool that would make residential and small-business loans, roughly $5,000–$10,000 per applicant, to finance installations.
Wade Crowfoot, representing the mayor’s office, described the package as a two-part approach — rebates plus loans — that would be codified through an ordinance and sent to the Board of Supervisors for final action. Crowfoot said the administration supported the commission serving as the program administrator. Staff said the loan program’s financing mechanism would require the introduction of a general-obligation bond measure by 2:00 p.m. the day of the meeting to meet a filing deadline. That measure would place the loan financing on the June ballot if the Board of Supervisors and voters approve it.
Commissioners and staff said the plan responds to three challenges: a change in state law that made public buildings ineligible for the state solar rebate; higher local installation costs (staff said San Francisco’s installed cost is roughly 8 percent higher than elsewhere in the Bay Area); and the loss of green-collar job opportunities to projects outside the city. Staff said a 30-day notice under AB 1823 would be issued on Dec. 21 to allow program changes to be reviewed and to return to the commission for a vote in January.
Several commissioners urged clear eligibility rules and a careful rollout. Commissioner Sklar urged prompt implementation and stronger follow-through than prior announcements. Commissioner Kane and others asked staff to ensure the program’s design would not unfairly exclude small contractors and to clarify retrofit eligibility and retroactivity if the program is introduced mid-season. Staff said program materials — draft application forms, outreach handouts and program details — would be circulated to commissioners before the January meeting.
No final vote was taken on the rebate or loan program at this meeting; staff will bring ordinance language, applications and implementation details back to the commission in January so the commission can decide whether to endorse and forward the proposal to the Board of Supervisors.
